


A question of public interest

by Blindvogel



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Actress Vex, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Mechanic Percy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 05:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9056698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blindvogel/pseuds/Blindvogel
Summary: Percy hasn't spoken to Vex in almost two years but a question during an interview changes his mind.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ScrawledScript](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrawledScript/gifts), [seimaisin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seimaisin/gifts), [blackglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackglass/gifts).



> This was written as a Christmas present for @Scrawledscript, @Shadowedhills and @Blackestglass over on Tumblr. Happy Holidays!

The sharp buzzing of his phone in his pocket draws Percy from underneath the machine he had been quietly working on for the last few hours. He tugs off one of the gloves that protect his hands from the oil and grime and fishes out his phone. The caller ID is the bright, cheerful face of Keyleth and with a smile he accepts the call.

He doesn’t even get a greeting out - her excited voice is almost shouting out of the earpiece.

“Turn on the TV, quick, quick! Tal’dorei Central, now!”

“What is this about?” Percy asks, chuckling, but has already crossed the garage to boot up the corresponding stream on his laptop.

“Just watch!” Keyleth instructs - and then hangs up on him.

More than a little confused Percy pockets his phone and turns his attention towards the screen. It’s a rerun of one of the popular evening shows hosting celebrities who try to help sell their newest projects. It’s Gilmore’s show, to be precise, and Percy grins at the familiar trademark suit in ostentatious purple. His grin fades when the camera zooms out to encompass the guest sitting on his couch.

He hasn’t seen her for almost two years now, at least not the real her. Vex’s smiling face greets him from every second billboard nowadays, ever since she managed to get the lead in the current Christmas blockbuster. He had been so proud of her when he heard the news from Keyleth, but he still hadn’t called. They hadn’t parted on friendly terms exactly when she went off to pursue her dream, he hadn’t been as supportive as a friend should have been and said a few things he wasn’t proud of. They hadn’t talked since and at least a very small part of Percy was relieved. Unrequitedly pining for her was easier when she was so far away, out of reach.

He turns up the volume to understand what is being discussed, though his guess is the movie she is starring in. (He hasn’t seen it, though the reviews seem to be unanimously positive and it’s the type of movie he usually would have gone to see in a heartbeat. He just… well.)

Gilmore is laughing over something Vex must have said a moment ago, then he turns a mischievous grin at her. “Your performance has been praised far and wide for your inspiring role as Elizabeth Bennet. Well, I think I must ask, for everyone in the audience wondering - have you ever been in love like the heroine or can we attribute that stellar performance solely to your acting abilities?”

Percy can’t take his eyes off the screen, even if he wanted to. She looks great, in a deep blue dress and hair braided in her favorite style, and utterly at ease even with such a loaded question. He watches as her face softens from a wide grin to a gentle smile.

“You’re asking because my lack of dates is currently the media’s favorite story, right?” Vex’s retort is in a sweet voice, but Percy knows her well enough to recognize that she isn’t happy about this intrusion on her privacy. Still, he feels his heart jump and is immediately guilty about his happiness that she isn’t seeing anyone.

Then she continues,”To answer your question then, since it’s of such public interest. A great performance, a character comes alive when the actor is able to draw from experience. We can make do with make-believe, and for many things we have to. But love is a different beast altogether since we’ve all seen or experienced it and it’s hard to fake if you don’t know how it feels like.” She’s smiling again, this time more genuine, as if remembering something sweet. “So yes, I’m in love. With the most impossible man, who is so very good at fixing things for others that he forgets to do it for himself. Mechanics, what can you do?” She laughs and Gilmore replies something but Percy has stopped listening.

She can’t be talking about him, right? She didn’t just admit to be in love with him on television, right? Keyleth hadn’t called him because of that, right?

But what if..?

He’s racing through the garage door and into his house, down the corridor into his kitchen without another thought. There’s a Christmas card from last year pinned to the fridge, with only a short sentence wishing him happy holidays in her familiar handwriting - and her address. The magnet holding it in place clatters on the ground when he rips the paper away but Percy doesn’t really notice. He’s trying to do so many things at once that he nearly face-plants into his bedroom floor when he tries to call a taxi and change into clean clothes at the same time.

The ride to the airport and the flight to Emon seem to take ages, even if it’s just a few hours and he had been lucky to catch a quick flight out. The whole time he doesn’t try to think that he might be wrong, that she hadn’t spoken about him. He had never dared hope so much like in that moment she had said those words, and he had to know.

The address he gives the taxi driver at the airport brings him to an elegant apartment building and in front of a suspicious concierge when he asks to be let up to see Miss Vessar. When the man phones up to relay that Percival de Rolo would like to come up, Percy is suddenly afraid that she won’t see him, that he has lost his chance by waiting too long. But then the concierge lets him through, calling the elevator to get him to the seventh floor.

Vex is waiting in the doorway, arms crossed, when he comes down the hallway towards her. She doesn’t look angry, which is a good sign, rather surprised and a little confused.

“Percy, what are you doing here? It’s Christmas Eve, shouldn’t you be with your family?”

“You’re not mad at me?” It’s not what he had wanted to be the first thing he said to her but his mouth is running away from him in her presence, that much hasn’t changed.

Vex cocks her head as she seems to consider his question and Percy can’t stop himself from wringing the gloves in his hands nervously. “No,” she finally says, “not anymore. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t furious for a while after I left. But time and distance have their way to give you some perspective. And I find that it’s easier to forgive. I thought that my cards were a good hint.”  

“I am so sorry,” he manages to finally say and feels a heavy weight fall from his shoulders. He should have said this sooner.

Whatever she sees in his face, her body relaxes and her arms fall to her sides. “Apology accepted,” Vex replies and steps away from the door, into her apartment. “Come in, now that you’re here.”

Percy crosses the threshold but doesn’t get very far. His feet don’t want to carry him further when he steps next to Vex and sees the familiar softness in her face. He has missed that, missed her so much. Yet again, instead of saying that, his mouth decides on something else. “I’ve seen your interview with Gilmore.”

“Ah,” Vex turns her head and lets the door fall shut behind him. “So that’s why you came here.”

He swallows his nerves down and nods. “I wanted to know if … if you were talking about me. And if it’s too late to tell you that I-” He doesn’t get further with his shaky attempt at a confession when her hands grab the lapels of his coat and drag him down to her eye level.

“You flew all the way from Whitestone on Christmas Eve, Percy,” she tells him solemnly, her nose only inches from his. And then she closes the last gap between them and kisses him gently on the lips.

For a long second Percy’s head is utterly blank with surprise, struggling to process the sweetness of her kiss, before he manages to kiss her back. When she pulls away he has a hard time opening his eyes and not chasing her lips with his.

“Does that clarify a few things for you?” Vex asks in a soft voice, her eyes not leaving his now that he’s looking at her.

“Some …,” he replies and his arms finally obey him and come up to circle around her shoulders and waist, “though I think I should make a few things clearer myself.”   


This time it is he who is kissing her and they don’t stop for a very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> fixed a few typos that were bugging me.


End file.
